Chapter 13 - Rachel Stark

As I sit in one of the corners of the lab, I slowly come to the realization that with these two, having a degree in the field they're discussing doesn't mean that you'll understand anything that they are saying. Although I have contributed little things here and there, Tony has upstaged me at every turn. He's a total ass. He's made me feel like I have been no help whatsoever, even though I was able to answer some of Bruce's questions that he wasn't able to. 

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process," Bruce says.

"If you guys could bypass the mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, you can clock this around, six hundred teraflops," I say, staring at the screen in front of me. Currently, I am trying to understand and record the analytics that the Tesseract and the scepter are pushing out. 

"You know, you should come by Stark Towers sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land." Tony says to Bruce as he circles the two of us.

"Thanks but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke... Harlem." Bruce says skeptically. I peak up above my screen and look over to Bruce. 

"I agree with Tony. I think you'd enjoy the tower. Plenty of fun toys there," I say. Tony gestures over to me in agreement then looks patiently back to him. Bruce smiles over to me, then reroutes his attention back to the scepter. 

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises..." Tony's voice trails off, making the lab go silent until I hear the zap of an electric pen. Bruce shouts and jumps away from Tony, who is staring quizzically at him. 

"Hey! Are you nuts?" a familiar voice shouts. I sit up straighter as my heart starts to beat faster. Steve walked into the room with so much gusto it took my breath away for a second. I quickly refocus. 

"You really have a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Tony asks, partly sarcastic, partly serious with his full attention still directed towards Bruce. 

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asks, standing defensively.

"Funny things are." Tony challenges.

"Tone, threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," I say seriously. I freeze up and slowly turn towards Bruce. "No offense." I hold my hands up and he just chuckles. 

"I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." He comments, shifting his weight forward and refocusing on the gadgets in front of him.

"You need to focus on the problem Mr. Stark," Steve says.

"You think I'm not?" He pauses and turns to me, asking for a defense. I turn to Steve and shrug, making Tony sigh. "Why did Fury call us in and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Tony retorts.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve says turning to me. I shrug, agreeing with Tony. 

"He is the biggest spy. He has a lot of secrets." I say. "Bruce?"

"Uh... I just wanna finish my work here and..."

"Doctor?" Steve asks.

"'A warm light for all mankind.' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"We heard it," Steve says, gesturing to me, speaking for both of us.

"Well, I think that was meant for you, Tony. Even if Barton didn't tell him, it is still all over the news." Bruce says. My head clicks to the side and I sit back in my chair to think. Why is it meant for Tony? I turn my head back to the group in realization. He means the... 

"Stark Tower? That big ugly..." Steve's dig is cut off with a glare from Tony. "...building in New York?" I stifle a chuckle which grabs the attention of the men in the room. 

"I agree with Steve on this one," I say shrugging. Tony rolls his eyes at me and flips me the bird from across the room. I feign shock and send one back, sticking my tongue out.  

"It's powered by Stark Reactors, a self-sustaining energy source. That building can run itself for what, a year?" Bruce asks.

"That's the idea. It's just the prototype though. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now." Tony says, throwing a few blueberries in his mouth. I send a little wave across the room and he sees, sending a few blueberries flying towards my mouth. I catch them with ease, causing him to clap and turn to the guys for approval. Neither Bruce nor Steve looks too thrilled. I sigh and lean back in my chair again, chewing on my blueberries.

"So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce asks, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finished breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files," Tony says. I am taken aback by that.

"I'm sorry, did you just say...?" Steve asks, just as blown away as I am.

"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, we'll know every little dirty secret that S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide." Tony finishes then offers the guys some blueberries. Are you serious?

"Is that what you were fiddling with in your pocket when you were making fun of that guy playing Galaga?" I ask. He snaps his fingers and points to me. 

"Yes, and damn, nothing can get past you 140140," he says with a sarcastic wink, referring to me by my agent number. It was something he did when he first found out I had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. He wasn't too thrilled about it and called me 140140 for like 3 weeks until he got over it. I scowled over to him. 

"And yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Steve asks.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony snaps back.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war. And if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed." 

"I agree with Steve on this one Tony. We have to work together to figure out what this guy wants." I say.

"We have orders, we should follow them," Steve finishes. 

"Following isn't really my style," Tony retorts, throwing some more berries into his mouth. I push my chair back loudly and lightly smack my hands on the table.

"Alright! I'm done. We get it, following really isn't your style. But there is a problem we need to focus on, okay?" I point between Tony and Steve. "All you two have done the whole time you have been here Tony is exchange little quips and snark. I am starting to feel like the only person who really wants to be on this ship is Loki. So let's get to work." As I finish, Steve walks out.

"That's the guy you and dad never shut up about? I'm starting to wonder if you should have just left him on ice." Tony says. I whip my head back towards him so fast, I could've sworn I pulled a muscle in my neck.

"Tony, I am so close to snapping. Play nice and find the cube." I say. I start to walk out, trying to go after Steve when I hear Tony say something that really hits home.

"I see, so you've got a thing for the Capsicle? Could've seen that coming after all those years of research. Which, by the way, does he know that he was your little science experiment? Thought you would've gone for Clint or something." He says.

"Find. The. Cube." I say through gritted teeth. I turn on my heel and stop out, letting my anger boil over for a quick second. 

"Agent Stark," Fury says in the earpiece that I forgot to take out, "I need you to interrogate Loki."

"Can't this be a job for Agent Romanoff? Thor, even?" I ask, trying to catch up with Steve. 

"This is a direct order Agent," he says, clearly not in the mood to negotiate. 

"Roger that," I say in defeat as I alter my path. 

After walking to the prison unit for what seemed like 30 minutes, I finally enter the containment room. I open the door silently, seeing that his back is turned to me. I pad down the stairs silently, hoping to gain the upper hand by sneaking up and shocking him with my presence. 

"There's not many people that can sneak up on me," Loki says with his back still turned. He methodically turns his body towards me, maniacally smiling over at me.

"But you look like you knew I would come," I say while crossing my arms. This is all a game, I tell myself.

"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a balm. And I would cooperate." He says, finishing with a smile.

"I guess I would seem like the least intimidating agent they could send. But I assure you, opinions can change." I pause, hoping for his façade to falter, but I see nothing. "I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton." 

"Let's just say I've... expanded his mind," Loki says, smiling at the mention of his work. Expanded his mind. I take a mental note, trying to disseminate the things he is telling me, looking for clues of his plan. 

"And once you've won, once you're the king of the mountain. What happens to his brain then?" I say, monotonously. I am trying to emulate Natasha's fierceness but it will have no effect on the demigod, I fear. 

"Why are you asking me these questions? There is no love for him inside of you. You have an affinity for the Man out of Time. So why bargain for this man?" Loki asks, trying to pry the information out of me. Feelings for Steve? Please. Why is everyone bringing this up today? I admit, sometimes I do think about him that way, but I wouldn't want it to be used against us. I am getting ahead of myself. I look to Loki and see that he is still smiling, obviously sensing my slight discomfort with his words. 

"Love is for children. Agent Romanoff and I owe him, big time." I say, trying to repair the cracks in my charade.

Loki sits down on the bench opposite to me in his cage and says, "Tell me."

I pull up a stool.

"Well for Natasha and I, it is different. For me, I owe him a life debt. We were caught in a crossfire and I should have gotten shot, but Clint jumped in front of me and took a bullet to the shoulder. When I got the bleeding to stop, we sprinted on. I can't forget that; I owe him." I conclude.

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" he asks.

"Well, for starters, I still wouldn't let you out," I say with a slight smirk. Loki laughs and points to me.

"Ah, no... But I like this. Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man?" Loki says, his smile starting to create anxiety in my stomach.

"Regimes fall every day. You take what you can get. I tend not to weep for it all, I'm a Stark." I say with a hint of a smile on my face.

"What do you want, Agent?" He asks, his patience for me running thin.

"It's really not that complicated. I owe him, and because of that, I need to see him back here safe." I say, almost proudly.

"Can you? Howard's daughter? The car crash? Budapest? Barton told me everything about you and Romanoff. Both of your ledgers are gushing red, and you think saving one a man no more virtuous than yourselves will change anything? This is a child's prayer! PATHETIC!"

"You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you and they will never go away!" He finishes and slams his hand into the glass making me jump slightly. I feel my emotions start to take over, even as I actively try to push them down. It takes everything inside of me that I have to not break my tough mask.

"I won't touch Barton. But I will get your Man out of Time. I will take over him and make him kill you. Slowly and in every way he knows you fear. And I will let him wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain you mewling quim!" He screams. I turn around and pretend to be hurt by his words. 

"You're a monster," I say shakily. That, at least, was true.

"No no. You brought the monster." He says slyly. I snap my head up and turn to face him. 

"So, Banner... That's your play." I say, turning the thought over in my mind.

"What?"

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk," I say through my comm. "Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor and Natasha as well." I turn to Loki. "Thank you, for your cooperation." I spin quickly on my heel and break into a brisk jog as I make my way to the lab.